RainClan
by lmgirls
Summary: A Warrior Cats fanfic about a Clan located in NW Washington. Rated K for violence, blood, and death. Oh, and the cat in the cover image is Sorrelpaw.
1. Allegiances & Prologue

**Allegiances:**

Leader: Hailstar- Large, long-furred grey tomcat with pale green eyes.

Deputy: Flamestorm- Large, long-furred orange tomcat with slightly darker tabby markings and green-gold eyes.

Medicine Cat: Dappledrose- Orange-and-brown tabby/torbie she-cat with pale green eyes and large white patches.

** Apprentice: Sorrelpaw**

Warriors: Silverblossom- Silver tabby she-cat with navy green eyes and "fluffy" (_not_ long-furred), soft fur.

** Apprentice: Nightpaw**

Viperthorn- Small (in body shape, not size), tall, skinny, lithe, long-legged reddish brown tabby tomcat.

** Apprentice: Seedpaw**

Apprentice(s): Sorrelpaw (med. cat app.)- Brown tabby she-cat with a black tail tip, white chest and paws.

Nightpaw- Tall, lithe, black tomcat with close-together, "straight up" ears and very bright yellow eyes.

Seedpaw- Tall, skinny, creamy tomcat with multiple small, dense, black speckles and bright yellow eyes.

Queen(s): Moonshadow- Black, long-furred she-cat with yellow eyes and a white chest, muzzle, belly, and paws, and a completely white front leg.

** Kit(s): Featherkit- Small calico she-kit with a round head, little orange splashes on her face, a white muzzle, chest, and front paw and small, large black areas, and angelic eyes of green, fringed with turquoise blue.**

**Weaselkit- Small, long-faced black and white tomkit with forest green eyes and a white chest, belly, face, feet, and neck, with the occasional white hair sprinkled throughout his black back, tail, flank, and head fur.**

Elder(s): Shadycloud- Large black tom with large, round, green-yellow eyes.

RainClan

_Prologue_

As Dappledrose slept, Sorrelpaw lay awake, watching her peaceful mentor and thinking about the mess of things these past few days had become. _First, Nightpaw admitted his love for me._ She thought, _But I'm almost six moons younger than him! He's practically a warrior, while I just escaped the confines of the Nursery._ As she pondered over this, a new thought crept into her mind: _What if I love him back?_ This couldn't be. She was the apprentice medicine cat of RainClan, and the Warrior Code clearly stated that such a relationship is forbidden among the Clans._ I can't like him, not in that way, never. _

She got out of her nest of soft mosses and feathers and went out of the warm, cozy den into the chilly night. As she gazed up at Silverpelt, she saw her steamy breath in front of her muzzle. She reminded herself that it was nearly Leaf-Bare, when snow would fall heavily in their forest home and all herbs would die or hibernate until New-Leaf came some four moons later. She singled out the brightest star in the night sky, which she knew was her mother, who, before her untimely and tragic death five moons ago, had been leader of her Clan and who was brighter than any star. _You'll be in my heart forever, Doestar._

With one last glance at the sky, she headed back into her den (or more her mentor's den) and fell into a fitful sleep, filled with her mother and Nightpaw and Silverpelt and and all else that could never be in her world.


	2. Chapter 1

RainClan

_Chapter Two_

As Sorrelpaw ate her mouse from the freshkill pile, she watched Nightpaw and Seedpaw as they talked about battle techniques across the stream that ran through the camp. The prey she was eating was killed by Nightpaw, she was sure. After she gulped the last of it down, she called, "Nice catch, Nightpaw!" He turned towards her, blinked, and said, "Oh, you mean the mouse? Actually, that was Seedpaw's catch. Thanks, though." His brother snickered, but stopped abruptly when Nightpaw flashed him a stern glance.

Sorrelpaw, feeling foolish and humiliated, ran back to the medicine den in a giant mossy Redwood trunk. Dappledrose turned away from her herb-sorting, having noticed her apprentice's rushed manner, and asked, "What's wrong, Sorrelpaw? Is someone hurt?"

"No, it's nothing, really. Everything's okay out there."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, don't worry, okay?!" Sorrelpaw hadn't meant to shout like that. "Um, I'd better go get some more cobwebs, we seem low." She briskly trotted back into the Mossy Clearing, and, avoiding Nightpaw and Seedpaw's gaze, ran across camp and through the maze of fallen trees that formed the entry tunnel until she was safe in the forest outside. She sighed and sat down, wondering what to do now that she was away from the humiliation she had just experienced. _Well, I guess I might as well get those cobwebs._

As she walked along the soft worn paths she knew so well, something a treelength in frontof her made her freeze in her tracks. A goose and her goslings were crossing the trail, not knowing of the danger that lay behind them. As Sorrelpaw watched, she saw something else; the mother goose's wing was torn, so she probably couldn't fly. _I know I'm no warrior apprentice, but would it really hurt to try and catch a crippled goose?_ Sorrelpaw crouched, trying to replicate the warrior apprentices when they learned how to stalk, and silently slid toward the family of geese.

When she was a foxlength away, she leaped. The goslings scurried away into the bushes, and the goose honked, fluttered her large wings, and bit Sorrelpaw hard on the tail. "Ow!" She screeched. The goose honked once more and started at a run towards Sorrelpaw. She ran towards a young sapling and leaped to the top, the little pine swaying back and forth under her weight. The she-goose circled the tree, flapped her wings, and hissed at the cat in the tree. After what seemed like moons, it waddled back to its young and they continued down the trail, more skittishly this time. "Foxdung. I didn't know geese could hiss!" She muttered. She jumped down from the tree and walked back to camp, acting as if nothing happened and that she wasn't scared out of her fur.

When she re-entered the camp, Seedpaw came running up to her. "We heard a cat yowling and a goose honking. What happened, did a goose sneak up on you while you were out searching herbs?" He said snidely. "Hey, leave her alone, will you, Seedpaw?" Nightpaw nudged his brother aside, who walked off muttering things about his sissy brother. "Hey, don't worry about him," Nightpaw reassured her. "His head is full fluff." This made Sorrelpaw giggle, but she quickly stopped. "Nightpaw, listen. This can't happen, you and I. For one thing, it goes completely against the Medicine Cat Code! And, I-" Nightpaw silenced her with his tail across her mouth. "Look, tonight is the half-moon. You can talk with StarClan, and I'm sure they would approve! Nothing can get in love's way, no matter what. They'd understand that."


	3. Chapter 2

RainClan

Chapter Two

_Tonight's the half-moon?_ Sorrelpaw had completely forgotten since that morning, when she had faced utter humiliation twice. As all else Nightpaw had said sank in, she began to feel the first squirms of nervousness in her belly. At first, she hadn't been afraid to travel to the Starry Hollow to meet with the other medicine cats and StarClan; in fact, she had even been a little excited. But now, that excitement was washed away as a wave of doubt poured over her. _What if Nightpaw's wrong? What if StarClan _doesn't _approve of our ever-growing relationship? Will they make me stop training to be a medicine cat? Will the force me to join FallsClan, or BeachClan, or I-islandC-c-clan? Will they punish me by banishing me from all Clans forever?_

FallsClan lived around a pool with many small waterfalls pouring into it from little streams that ran through their part of the forest. Sorrelpaw didn't mind a little water, of course, but she couldn't think of having to wade through it every day just to get across camp. BeachClan lived along the pebble- and log-strewn coast, and hunted disgusting prey like mussels, crabs, and dirty seagulls. They also treated themselves to anything dead they happened to find washed up along their shores.

But IslandClan was by far the worst. They lived on a large island at least three treelengths out at sea, and swam through the frigid currents of the ocean to get to their other slice of territory, a small piece of forested shore only a treelength long. They were also the hermits of the Clans, hardly ever socializing with the other Clans and sticking to their own rocky, cliff-sided, windy island they somehow called home. No cat had ever dared attack that island, not only because it's a dangerous swim getting there, but the cliffs surrounding it were nearly impossible to climb unless you had been taught how to as an apprentice. _I can't go there!_

That night, Dappledrose found Sorrelpaw curled up in her nest within the roots of the fallen tree. "Wake up, Sorrelpaw. We must leave very soon. The sun's going down soon, and we must be in the Hollow by moonhigh. Sorrelpaw?" Sorrelpaw groaned and got up. "Okay. Where are our traveling herbs?"

"Oh, we won't be needing any of those."

As Sorrelpaw wondered about this, Dappledrose left the den hurriedly. "Come now, Sorrelpaw, or we'll be late!" Sorrelpaw came trotting after and the two made their way out of the camp and into the wet forest. "I've never been in the forest at night." Sorrelpaw said. "What if a… a bear eats us? Or a bobcat attacks us? Or, or…"

"Sorrelpaw, please! There is nothing to be afraid of. On this sacred night, StarClan is watching us. We're safe."

"Are you sure, Dappledrose?"

At this, Dappledrose stopped, causing Sorrelpaw to bump into her. She whipped around, looked into her apprentice's eyes, and said, "Sorrelpaw, never doubt our warrior ancestors!" She realized she was frightening her, and said more gently, "Sorrelpaw, there is absolutely nothing to worry about right now. Now stop behaving like a lost kit and follow me." Sorrelpaw obeyed, keeping her eyes on her mentor's tabby tail as not to actually become a lost kit. _I'm not a kitten anymore, so stop treating me like one!_ Although she thought this, she didn't dare speak it aloud to her mentor, and so they continued on in silence until they came to a wide river. "We're almost there. Now all we must do is cross this river, and…" But Sorrelpaw wasn't listening. She just stared at all the water, probably as cold as ice, rushing past a foxlength ahead. "How are we going to _cross_ that?"

"Well, if you've been listening to me, you would've known that we are going to walk across a fallen log." _At least we don't have to swim. Thank StarClan._ Dappledrose continued along the steep bank until they came to where the log was, or must've been a few days ago. "Um, what happened to the log? Because I'm not seeing any!"

"Don't worry, we'll just have to swim."

"Don't worry? How can I _not_ worry? I can't swim!"

"Yes, you can. It's an instinct all cats have, even if we don't use it. Just jump into the water and your legs will do the rest."

Sorrelpaw gulped and tried to leap into the river, but her paws kept still so she half slid, half fell down the bank into the rushing torrent below. She tried doing as Dappledrose told her, to just let her legs swim her across, but they seemed frozen solid. "Help! Dappledrose, help me! Help me!" But her last plea was swept away by the thundering roar of the river. (This scene reminds me of a song I once wrote about someone drowning in a river. I think I'll post it as a review so my loyal readers can check it out!) _No StarClan, no! I'm too young to join your ranks!_ As she thought that, she felt a pelt against her own. "Dappledrose!" Her mentor led her ashore, and she collapsed on the upper bank, coughing up water and trying to catch her breath. "Thank you! You saved my life!" She managed to say between splutters. "Well, that is what I'm supposed to do to any cat, right? You too, once your training's complete."

"I guess."

"Well, let's keep moving. We just need to walk through this small stretch of woods and we'll be there, and not a moment too soon!" With this, both she-cats got up and continued walking until they reached a small hollow covered in mosses and surrounded by ferns. Huge evergreen trees acted as a canopy above them, except for a small hole in amid all the clusters of leaves and branches. "Is this the Starry Hollow?"

"It sure is!" replied a nasal voice from the center of the hollow. Sorrelpaw jumped, not having realized that there were six other cats in the clearing with them. The speaker was an older-looking brown tabby tom with brown-green eyes. "Hi, I'm Frogcroak, and this is my apprentice, Dropletpaw!" A small silver tabby she-cat with sparkling blue eyes looked up at Sorrelpaw. "Hi," she whispered as quietly as a mouse. "Hi, I'm Sorrelpaw. Who are you guys?" She asked the other cats, her nervousness having vanished. She knew that Frogcroak and Dropletpaw were from FallsClan, as they smelled like fresh water and stone.

A pair of toms obviously from BeachClan spoke up next. "Nice to meet you, Sorrelpaw! I'm Driftsplash and he's Ospreyfeather." The grey and white tom next to him puffed up his chest, and Sorrelpaw guessed he had only just received his medicine cat name. _He's acting as though he is the best medicine cat the Clans have ever seen!_ Driftsplash, a light brown cat with green eyes, walked up to Sorrelpaw and whispered, "Don't mind him, Sorrelpaw. He can be a bit full of himself from time to time, but he really is a good cat." Sorrelpaw could hardly believe it, but she nodded as though she agreed.

Finally, a long-haired black she-cat said, "Greetings. I am Nightshade, and this is my apprentice, Stormpaw." She motioned towards a dark grey she-cat who was probably no older than Sorrelpaw, who nodded and said, "Welcome to the Starry Hollow." Sorrelpaw nodded back, wondering why any cat would name their apprentice after a beautiful yet deadly flower. The name fit her, though.

This time, Dappledrose was the one to speak. "The moon's at its highest peak! It is time to visit StarClan." All the cats gathered in the center of the hollow, where they lay down in a patch of moonlight from the hole in the trees and instantly fell asleep. Sorrelpaw, realizing what was being done, ran up to them and lay down alongside Dappledrose. She felt herself being pulled by a sudden sleepiness, and after the long, tiresome journey she had just experienced, welcomed the feeling.

Sorrelpaw opened her eyes to the Hollow, except this Hollow was bathed in sunlight instead of darkness, and a beautiful, lush forest was spread out around them, followed by a pebbly beach and beautiful blue waters. As she gazed around, trying to spot a cat with stars in its pelt, she started at the sound of a voice behind her. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Sorrelpaw whirled around to come face-to-face with Stormpaw, the she-cat from IslandClan, and the other two apprentices, Ospreyfeather and Dropletpaw. She meant to say something along the lines of agreement, but what came out instead was "What are _you_ cats doing here?" She became aware of the rudeness that lay in what she said and immediately apologized. "I mean, um… I just, and you…" Stormpaw silenced her by whipping her tail across Sorrelpaw's muzzle. "It's okay, I'm not easily offended. But _look._"

She pointed her tail at a pair of creatures walking down into the Hollow. One was a badger, and the other was a monstrous-looking thing with no hair and bulging blue eyes that could see nothing. Yet, Sorrelpaw felt they were looking at her, burning right through to her soul. "Hello, young cats of the Clans," rumbled the she-badger, startling the apprentices. _First geese hiss like a cat, and now badgers talk like one?_ "I am Midnight. Come Rock and I have to speak with you." The bald cat, apparently called Rock, stepped forward. "Yes, hello, young cats. We have come to tell you something incredibly important." Sorrelpaw gasped, but Stormpaw remained cool. Sorrelpaw closed her mouth and tried to replicate Stormpaw. Rock spoke again, his voice sounding as ancient as he was. "Listen closely, and tell no one what you heard when you wake up:

'_The mighty osprey and the powerful storm, the droplet of water, so small yet capable of causing peace-shattering ripples, and the healing sorrel stalk; all must become one to prevent all from becoming none.'_

Good luck, young ones. And remember, there is a terrible danger coming from the heart of the Clan of storms, the Clan of rain. A danger that is out to destroy all cats willing to heal their Clanmates. Beware, it id closer than you think. Beware!" With that, they both vanished.

As Sorrelpaw woke up, she remembered her extreme first meeting with StarClan, and wildly looked around to locate the other apprentices. Ospreyfeather and Stormpaw were whispering to each other in the shade, while Dropletpaw was quietly yet swiftly talking to her mentor. Sorrelpaw caught some of what she was saying: "…and then, a bald cat came and said…" Before she could finish her sentence, Ospreyfeather, who apparently had also tuned into the conversation, pinned her to the ground and growled something in her ear. She whimpered, and the medicine cats leapt into action. Frogcroak and Driftsplash pulled him off the tiny she-cat while Dappledrose and Nightshade comforted her.

After that incident, all the medicine cats headed for home, the "powerful storm" and the "mighty osprey" walking toward the ocean while the "droplet of water" headed to the direction of the morning sun and the "healing sorrel stalk" trotted in the direction the warmer winds blow from.

**So, we found out about the other Clans, had a special appearance made by Rock and Midnight, and got to hear a prophecy. All in almost 2,000 words (finally, a long chapter!).**


	4. Chapter 3

RainClan

Chapter Three

Sorrelpaw hadn't realized 'til they were almost to the camp that StarClan hadn't even mentioned Nightpaw, nor had Doestar or Brackenkit, her brother who had died along with her mother during an extreme outbreak of greencough that had ripped through the Clan like wildfire, appeared, not even for a moment. Instead, she and the other three medicine cat apprentices were told a prophecy and given a warning by Rock, a dreadful-looking ancient cat and his friend, the she-badger Midnight. That prophecy still rang in her ears: _The mighty osprey, the powerful storm, the droplet of water, so small yet capable of causing peace-shattering ripples, and the healing sorrel stalk; all must become one to prevent all from becoming none. But what does it mean?_

As Sorrelpaw and Dappledrose entered the camp, it was all Sorrelpaw could do to keep from running straight to Nightpaw and telling him everything. Instead, however, Nightpaw came running to her. "How did it go? What did they say about, you know, _us_?" He spoke the last few words in a whisper. "Well, they didn't really say anything about us at all. All they said was…" She stopped, remembering what Rock had told them about letting any other cats hear the prophecy, and how powerfully Ospreyfeather had pounced on Dropletpaw when she had almost told her mentor, Frogcroak, about it when they woke up. "Was what? You can tell me what they said, if it's meant to be a secret. I won't tell anyone else, I promise." They gazed into each other's eyes, and she couldn't help herself. "Okay, I'll tell you, but only where no one else can hear us."

She once again left camp, this time with Nightpaw by her side. They walked deeper and deeper into the wet pine forest, until they came to a tree with a large open gap at the base. Just then it started raining heavily, and the two took shelter in the tree. As she told Nightpaw what had happened the previous night, he sat and gazed at her intently, hardly ever blinking. Once she was done, he said, "Well, obviously you're the 'healing sorrel stalk', Ospreyfeather must be the 'mighty osprey', and the 'powerful storm' is Stormpaw. That leaves the 'droplet of water', which apparently can cause peace to shatter. That has to be Dropletpaw. But what does the last part mean? 'All must become one to prevent all from becoming none'? That doesn't sound too good."

"I know. But, why did Rock only refer to _me_ as healing? We're all training to become medicine cats. It's not as if I'm the only one who knows how to dress a wound, or cure a cough."

"I don't really understand it, either." Nightpaw looked up at the sky. The rain had stopped coming down so harshly and was now only a slight sprinkle. It was almost dark out, as well; the sun was already halfway down, and beneath all the trees, it was almost pitch black. "We should probably be heading back. It's getting dark out and it's already cold enough to numb our noses!" Sorrelpaw only nodded in reply, and the two trotted off back to camp.

By the time Sorrelpaw reached her nest deep in the hollow evergreen, the sun was down and the moon was out. Through the miniscule holes formed by termites in the top of the den, moonlight shone down on her pelt as if she was a StarClan cat herself. She was asleep almost as soon as she closed her eyes, and a dream followed not long after that.

_Sorrelpaw found herself in a dark forest. Lightning cracked overhead. She tried to look around, but her neck wouldn't budge. Suddenly, a beautiful dusty brown she-cat and a brown tabby tomkit, both with blazing blue eyes, appeared out of a dense thicket of brambles. "Doestar! Brackenkit! Why didn't you visit me last night?" _

"_My dear kit, we tried, but we couldn't. The whole time you slept, Rock spoke to you, and you never were alone. If we could have, we would."_

"_But mother, what does Rock's prophecy mean? We've figured out the first part, but not the last. Please, help me understand."_

"_I can't tell you everything; it is your and the other apprentice medicine cats to figure out. However, I will show you something very special." At this, the forest around them melted away and was replaced by another, but this forest had wind whistling through it, and the air smelled of salty water. Sorrelpaw could hear waves pounding at cliffs far below them. "Are we in IslandClan?"_

"_Yes, Sorrelpaw. Now follow your brother and I. We have to show you something." They started walking through the windswept forest until they arrived at a wall of brambles which was apparently the IslandClan camp. "We're here!" squeaked Brackenkit. "Why are we at their camp?" Sorrelpaw asked. "You'll see. Now come. What we must show is very, very important." They walked through a small tunnel in the wall to emerge on the other side of the bramble thicket. A small area with dark, moist earth spread out in front of them, with other holes and clearings hidden in the bushes on all sides and a tree stump that must've been where the leader sat to address the Clan. "This way." Doestar lead her kits to one of the holes in the brambles, where a sickly sweet smell was coming from. _

"_Is this the medicine cat den?" Sorrelpaw asked, but she knew the answer before it came, for there was Nightshade and Stormpaw, sleeping in nests of dried pine needles and soil. _That doesn't look very comfortable,_ Sorrelpaw thought. _Maybe that's why those two are always so grumpy._ In a similar nest closer to the entrance, a tiny kit lay, breathing so shallowly that at first Sorrelpaw thought it was dead. "Now, Sorrelpaw, I've brought you here to show you something very special you can do." Doestar spoke to Sorrelpaw as though she was still a kit in the Nursery. "Gently rest the tip of your tail on Splashkit's chest. That's where the infection is." Sorrelpaw wondered why her mother was doing this, but figured she _was_ in StarClan, and did as her mother said. "Now, focus on Splashkit. Think of her chest, think of her infection, think of the herb you would use to heal it." As Sorrelpaw did this, the little pale gray she-kit started breathing normally. She woke up suddenly, saw the transparent cats looking down at her, and gasped. "Are you from StarClan? Oh no, I've died, haven't I? Please let me live, I don't want to leave my mother!" _

"_Hush, young one. No, you are not dead. I'm from StarClan, yes, and so is my youngest kit. Sorrelpaw, however, is very much alive, and you are, too, thanks to her."_

"_Are you a medicine cat?" Splashkit asked Sorrelpaw. "Did you heal me?"_

_Sorrelpaw began purring. "I guess I did, little kit. Now, you should go back to sleep. Your own medicine cats will soon find out you are as healthy as can be."_

That morning, as Sorrelpaw awoke, she remembered her dream. _I hope little Splashkit really is okay._ As she thought of the kit, she had no means of knowing that alongside the young one lay a single sorrel stalk.


End file.
